Columbus Plate Data Leaked to ICE | Columbus News

Columbus police say ICE never directly accessed their Flock license-plate data—but logs reveal a secret pilot where Homeland Security Investigations pulled nearly 200 searches, likely from nationwide camera networks, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted over 3,500 searches. Despite a 2017 city policy banning local resources for immigration enforcement, this raises alarms about federal overreach and data privacy, especially given the nature of some arrests. The Flock maker admits a communication breakdown and is improving compliance tools, while Columbus has added filters and paused data sharing after an audit found 15,000 potentially immigration-related searches. Police defend the system as vital for solving crimes and finding missing persons, but the incident sparks serious questions about surveillance and boundaries. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/029baea72a31f5a8